A Fox's Journey
by WillieF20
Summary: things happen slightly different on the night of Naruto's graduation test failure. Some would say that not learning the shadow clone jutsu that night would prevent his graduation. They would be wrong. Read as Naruto becomes a ninja to be reckoned with on his journey to be hokage
1. Chapter 1

_**I don't own Naruto**_

_**Chapter 1**_

A classroom of 12 year olds was talking loudly. This was the graduating class of Konoha's academy. They were set to take their graduation exams. Iruka and Mizuki, the Chunin instructors, entered the room and the class quieted down.

Iruka noticed that Naruto Uzumaki was sitting at his seat looking beaten. Iruka immediately knew how he got into that state. The only people to ever physically harm Naruto in any way, outside of academy spars and Iruka's consistent manhandling of the boy, was the girls in Naruto's class minus Hinata Hyuga. Iruka didn't really want to know what happened. Naruto would be perfectly fine.

"Hello class. It's time for your graduation exam. When we call your name come into the room next door." Iruka said

"We'll be starting with Shino Aburame." Mizuki said as the three left the room

The wait for Naruto was boring. He was one of the few left. Sasuke had went two people before him and now it was almost his turn. Naruto was determined to pass this test. He had never been able to do a proper clone before, but he planned to wing it. They had known what they were expected to do to pass the exam, but for some reason the clone jutsu was too hard for Naruto. He was able to do the transformation and the substitution jutsu, but he knew that wasn't enough. Naruto started off as focused and determined to pass, but after a while his mind wandered. He thought of ramen and that was a never ending thing with him. Soon it was Naruto's turn and he hadn't heard the boy before him, who obviously failed, call out his name. Naruto was lost in thought and it was a shock to them. Iruka, who had expected the boy who just failed to be sad, came over himself to call Naruto. When he got in the doorway he called Naruto's name twice before walking over to the boy.

"Naruto, it's your turn." Iruka said in Naruto's face as the boy jumped back in shock

"Where did you come from sensei?" Naruto asked

"I walked over to you Naruto. You weren't paying attention." Iruka said as he motioned for Naruto to follow him.

Naruto followed him, while thoughts of pulling a prank on his sensei crossed his mind.

"Alright Naruto I need you to perform a transformation jutsu." Iruka said. He was curious as to what Naruto was thinking so hard about. He assumed it might have been a prank. With this in mind Iruka decided to pay close attention to Naruto during the test to prevent himself from getting pranked.

"Transform!" Naruto said as he turned into a perfect image of the third hokage. As Naruto said the words, Iruka noticed that Naruto was using more chakra than was actually necessary for the jutsu.

"That's good Naruto. With as much time as you spend around lord Hokage, I would have been disappointed if you did this wrong." Iruka said

"Next is the substitution." Mizuki said

Naruto performed the necessary hand seals and soon found himself in the corner of the room where the log had previously been. Again Iruka had noticed that Naruto was using too much chakra.

"That's good Naruto." Iruka said. _Why is he using so much chakra? Could his chakra control be that bad? Maybe this is why he can't create a clone. If he fails I should talk to lord hokage. Naruto might simply need chakra control training,_ Iruka thought.

"Finally Naruto, use the clone jutsu." Mizuki said

Naruto tried his best, but he ended up with five dead looking clones on the ground.

_As I thought. He put in enough chakra for a B ranked jutsu,_ Iruka thought

"Unfortunately Naruto you fail." Iruka said. With a plan in mind he didn't look all that sad. This look is what Naruto saw. Naruto rushed from the room before he could hear what Mizuki and Iruka talked about.

Naruto ran away from the academy and made his way to the hokage monument and the fourth hokage's head. For some reason this had always been a good place for him to go when he wanted to be alone.

Unknown to Naruto, his white haired academy sensei had been looking for him. He never was able to find Naruto though. Mizuki snuck into the hokage tower and stole the scroll of sealing in a transformation of Naruto. When the hokage caught him, he used Naruto's sexy jutsu in an attempt to fool the old hokage. The distraction worked.

Back with Naruto, he had four people watching him from the shadows. They were apparently two Konoha shinobi and two kunoichi.

"It's sad to see this happen to someone so deserving." This was said by a brown haired woman. Her hair was cut in a shoulder length bob that framed her descriptive features were her brown eyes and two rectangular, purple markings on each of her cheek. She was wearing the standard jounin outfit.

"I would assume that the reason he failed was the clone jutsu. Being Kushina's son as wells as a jinchuriki has surely given him huge chakra reserves. He could pass this test on two different ways. He could learn the shadow clone jutsu, or he could work extremely hard on chakra control training over the next year and hope it's good enough to allow him the ability to use the clone jutsu." Said a man with white gravity defying hair. Most of his face was covered though. He had a face mask that is slanted at the top. The right half only covers his cheek, but the left half reaches to just under his left eye. His forehead protector was slanted to cover up his left eye. He also was wearing the standard attire of jounin and chunin of konoha, with an addition of shorter metal-plated gloves.

"The academy doesn't teach chakra control. They have only had one other case like his, but Kushina sensei had Lady Mito to ask for guidance. Naruto on the other hand has lord hokage, but that would be a show a favoritism. It is lucky for Naruto-kun that Kushina sensei and Minato had enough money stored away to pay for that apartment he lives in as well as the allowance lord hokage gives him (AN: Hiruzen only takes Naruto out for ramen in this story, but has never really gone out of his way for Naruto. It isn't because he doesn't care, but because as hokage he has to be fair to all. It would wrong to give Naruto special treatment when the other orphans aren't getting the same treatment). Naruto will need some individual training in that area." This was said by a man with short brown hair and dark markings under his eyes. He appeared to be young, but he had pronounced lines under his eyes. There was a chronic cough also plaguing his speech. It appeared regular and not recent. He was wearing the standard Konoha shinobi outfit complete with a forehead protector that he wore as a bandanna. He was also carrying a katana with a rectangular hand guard strapped over his back

"I was planning on apprenticing him." A cat masked anbu said. She was a young woman with straight, purple hair reaching down to her waist, and brown eyes, and a shade of red lipstick. As an anbu member, she normally wears a porcelain mask resembling a cat with three red stripes — one vertical stripe on the forehead and two horizontal stripes, one on each cheek. She was around her lover and 2 out of three of her closest friends, who have all been in anbu. She was wearing the standard ANBU uniform, consisting of black and grey armour, metal arm guards and a katana strapped to her back. She has the signature ANBU tattoo on her right shoulder.

"That seems like a good idea, don't you agree, Iruka?" The white haired man said

"I should have known you knew I was here." Iruka said

"What is your purpose here Iruka?" Cat asked. She knew he was there and made sure she never turned her head in his direction. Now she was looking at him with her cat mask on.

"I was searching for Naruto. Other than the ramen stand and his home, I made this a place to search because of his aspiration to be hokage. Lord hokage had informed me to find Naruto because he may have been in danger." Iruka said

"Naruto is perfectly fine. We have been watching over him this entire time since he arrived after failing his graduation exam." The white haired man said lazily

"Were you ordered to watch him?" Iruka asked confused. These were some of the strongest ninja he knew. Kakashi Hatake, the only non Uchiha with the sharingan and the fourth hokage's last surviving male student. He was also the son of the White Fang, a feared and respected shinobi as well. Rin Hatake, Kakashi's wife and the second best medic nin that Konoha has ever produced. She was the fourth hokage's surviving female student. Hayate Gekko, the best kenjutsu user in the village and a former student of Konoha's Red Death. His sickness being the only reason he wasn't granted full jounin status. Iruka wasn't sure, but if the hair was anything to go by, as well as the company she kept, he assumed that the anbu was Yugao Uzuki. She was the third best kenjutsu user and the another former student to the Red Death. Why were they watching over Naruto?

"It's more personal." Hayate said with a cough

"Well, I guess I'll leave Naruto in your capable hands and report back to the hokage." Iruka said as the four nodded.

Iruka did exactly what he said and was later informed that Mizuki had been caught by some anbu that were sent after him.

"Lord hokage, what of Naruto?" Iruka asked

"I will come up with something soon Iruka and I will let you know as soon as possible." Hiruzen said as dismissed Iruka to allow four others in.

"To what do I owe this pleasure Kakashi, Hayate, Rin, and Cat." Hiruzen asked

"I wish to apprentice Naruto Uzumaki." Cat said as she stepped forward.

"What of your anbu duties?" Hiruzen asked

"I will have to cut back on them a little. I am still able to do high ranking missions, but I will need time to train Naruto if given permission. From our discussion, we assumed that Naruto's failure was due to his massive chakra reserves and very small chakra control." Cat said

"I grant permission. How much time will you need?" Hiruzen asked

"I would like one month of training, a second month of C ranked missions and finally a test of his skills and experience in the form of the chunin exams." Cat said

"Are you sure he will be ready in such short notice?" Hiruzen asked. He didn't mind the training or the C ranked missions. The missions were more than a fresh out of the academy genin would normally get, but as an anbu, Cat could easily handle the mission without him, so she could back him up if he needed help. The chunin exams after such short time might not be a good idea.

"I plan to train him using the shadow clone method. I will test his capabilities with it first, but I assume that he will be able to perform years of training in that one month. I won't push him that far, but he should be at least chunin level in skill and experience by the time of the exams. I also, with your permission wish to tell him of his heritage and of the jinchuriki in general, but not of his own status as one." Cat said

"That is a risky move, but Naruto needs to be stronger than both his parents if he wants to defend himself from any of his parents' enemies that want revenge. I will be their for your testing of his capabilities. I want some kind of report on his skill before he heads out on his first mission. I also will have him tested before the exams. If he does well he can participate. If not he will sit them out." Hiruzen said

"Thank you sir." Cat said

"He is also allowed to know of your true name and any personal information you want to give him. Kakashi I want you to teach him the rasengan during that month of training. During missions with Naruto, you will act as his jounin sensei and not an anbu. You are all dismissed, unless there is something else." Hiruzen said as the others shook their heads and then nodded at the dismissal.


	2. Chapter 2

_**I don't own Naruto**_

_**Chapter 2**_

A knock at his door awoke Naruto from his sleep. He, still half sleep, looked at his clock and saw that it was 5 in the morning.

"This better be important." Naruto mumbled as he got up and went to the door. What he saw when he opened the door was a cat masked anbu with purple hair that, had he been fully awake, he would have noticed was female.

"Good morning Naruto." The anbu greeted

"Hi. What's going on?" Naruto asked

"I'm your jounin I come in?" Cat asked

"Sure." Naruto said, now fully awake at the mention of his sensei

"We have a lot to do, but not a lot of time to do it. I need you to get showered and dressed before we head out." Cat said

"Okay." Naruto said as he quickly did as she ordered

"Ready?" She asked as he nodded. They left his apartment and headed towards training grounds 44, also known as the forest of death.

"My name is Yugao Uzuki." Yugao said as she removed her mask

"Pretty." Naruto said stupidly

"Thank you Naruto. When I was younger and first becoming a genin, my current lover Hayate Gekko and Hayama Shirakumo were the genin cell under your mother. students around our age, who graduated earlier were your father's students. They were Kakashi Hatake, Rin Hatake, Kakashi's wife, and Obito Uchiha. Obito is currently dead though. My sensei was Kushina Uzumaki and their sensei was Minato Namikaze." Yugao said as she stopped to allow that information sink in.

This was a lot to take in though. His father was the fourth hokage, his idol. Although his mother was relatively unknown to him, she was still his mother.

"What happened to her?" Naruto asked. He knew his father died defeating Kyuubi and he couldn't be any prouder of being his son, but he was also sad that his dad wasn't here to raise him.

"She died alongside your father. We don't know all the details of the night of your birth, but we do know that something bad happened. To understand what I'm about to tell you we would have to start with the tailed beasts. Do you know of them?" Yugao asked

"I know of the nine tails, but I never knew there were more." Naruto answered

"As his name suggests, Kyuubi is the ninth tailed beast. There are eight others out there, not as powerful, but powerful all the same. The specific information we have on the other tailed beasts is classified unfortunately and I'm not allowed to tell you, but I can tell you what we know about the Kyuubi. Tailed beasts, such as Kyuubi, can be sealed into objects or a human being to lock away the beings. Kyuubi, unlike his weaker brethren, cannot be sealed into an item of any kind because his power is too great. To lock away Kyuubi's power it has to be into a human. To our knowledge the first human to ever have a tailed beast sealed into them was Mito Uzumaki, the first hokage's wife. During the famous final battle of the first hokage and Madara Uchiha, Madara summoned and controlled Kyuubi with his sharingan. Sharingan is the bloodline trait of the Uchiha clan like your friend Sasuke. It's a jutsu that they receive in their eyes. Not all Uchiha unlock this, but the ones that do are very strong. Mito Uzumaki intervened in the fight and used fuinjutsu, sealing, to seal the kyuubi within her and become the first of what is known today as a jinchuriki. A jinchuriki is a human being with a tailed beast sealed within them. Before she died of old age, another Uzumaki was brought from the home of the Uzumaki, The Land of Whirlpools, to be the next jinchuriki for the Kyuubi. This Uzumaki was your mother. Unfortunately the other Uzumaki are gone from this world, to Konoha's knowledge, so you may be the last one left. Your father was an orphan and any family that Kushina sensei had was left behind. The closest thing I would say that you have to family would probably be Lady Tsunade of the legendary sanin. Your mother later became the jinchuriki of the kyuubi before Mito died. When a female jinchuriki is about to have a baby, like sensei did with you, the seal holding back the tailed beast weakens. Somehow someway, the seal broke and Kyuubi was freed and attacked Konoha. The rest you know of as your father defeated him with your mother at his side." Yugao said

"What happened to the Uzumaki?" Naruto asked

"They were wiped out during the era of the shinobi wars. The only Uzumaki we know of is Mito and sensei. I'm not saying that there aren't any out there, but we can't be for sure if there are." Yugao said

"Did they love me?" Naruto asked

"Sensei loved you the moment she found out she was pregnant with you. Minato, who I didn't know all too well, loved you and the idea of being a father when sensei finally told him about her pregnancy." Yugao said

"Where is this Tsunade person?" Naruto asked

"After her lover, Dan Kato's, death during the 2nd shinobi world war she later left with his niece as her apprentice and never returned to the village. Her teammate, your father's sensei, Jiraiya of the sanin, keeps tabs on her to make sure she's still alive, but that's all I know about that." Yugao responded

Naruto allowed the information to all sink in as best as he could and then nodded.

"When do we start training sensei?" Naruto asked

"Is that all the questions you had about things outside of training?" Yugao asked as Naruto nodded. "Alright we start training now."

"Are you going to teach me super cool jutsu?" Naruto asked

"A few. The first one is the shadow clone jutsu." Yugao said

"Another clone jutsu? Can't we do something cooler." Naruto whined

"The clone jutsu I'm going to teach you creates solid clones that you can use in battle. I also know why you couldn't use the clone jutsu before." Yugao said

"You do? Why?" Naruto asked curiously

"As an Uzumaki you were born with naturally high chakra reserves. The clone jutsu takes a very small amount of chakra. The more chakra you have, the harder it is to control. Chakra control is one of the things I plan to work on with you. The better your control, the easier it is to do more chakra taxing jutsu. Put your fingers like this and say shadow clone jutsu." Yugao said as she performed the jutsu and a clone appeared next to her

Shadow clone jutsu!" Naruto exclaimed. He put in enough chakra for 1 clone, but his chakra control was off. He got 10 shadow clones

"How much chakra did you put in Naruto?" Yugao asked

"This is what I normally put in for one clone." Naruto said

"This is way too much chakra for just one clone. It's alright though, that's something that will be fixed. How much chakra do you have left?" Yugao asked although she could sense that he barely cut a dent into his chakra reserves

"I guess almost all of it. I don't think I used that much." Naruto said

"You can dismiss them for now. The first thing we're going to work on is chakra control. There are two chakra control exercises that can help make your control better. Tree climbing and water walking. After you get to a acceptable progress with tree climbing, you'll allow your shadow clones to continue the training, while you work on physical training. When the clones have gotten acceptable level with the tree climbing, you'll start on water walking."Yugao said as Naruto started to show a confused look.

"How are the shadow clones going to help my training. I know there solid and everything, but that doesn't help me." Naruto said

"The shadow clone jutsu is a forbidden jutsu for two reasons. One shadow clone with no wasted chakra is equal to 20 clones worth of chakra. The shadow clones also have an effect where a dispelled clone's memories return to the original. Do you understand?" Yugao asked

"I think so. It's like if you send a shadow clone far away out of ear distance and eye sight of us and your clone tells my clone something and then they dispel, we'll both know what was said." Naruto said

"Exactly. The way this applies to training is that if you have say 10 clones training for 10 hours that would equal 100 hours of training in just 10 hours." Yugao said

"That's so cool." Naruto said eagerly

"This is tree climbing." Yugao said as she showed him the exercise and received a dropped jaw from the genin.

It took Naruto exactly a week to get to an acceptable level for Yugao. She wanted him to at least be able to run up the tree without falling.

"Good. Now that you've gotten that far, you can use your shadow clones to master the exercise for you. Create 14 clones and have them work on tree climbing for the time being while me and you work on something else." Yugao said as Naruto nodded and created the amount she asked for.

"What are we going to be doing now sensei?" Naruto asked. It wasn't the super cool jutsu he wanted to learn, but he could see tree climbing as very useful.

"I'm going to better you taijutsu. I know that you weren't horrible compared to the others in your class, but you still weren't that good. To work on this, you're going to wear these gravity seals. I've set them to make you faster than a kid named Rock Lee. You don't know him, but he was the dead last of the year before yours." Yugao started

"Shouldn't I be aiming to be faster than their classes rookie of the year instead of their dead last?" Naruto asked confusedly while scratching his head.

"The rookie of that year was Neji Hyuga. In taijutsu, he is the best in his class, but in raw speed and power his teammate Rock Lee is the best. Rock Lee graduated from the academy with no skill in ninjutsu or genjutsu and very little skill in taijutsu. In the span of one year under his jounin sensei Rock Lee was able to become the second best genin in taijutsu under only his teammate." Yugao said.

"I wonder how Sakura and Sasuke are doing?" Naruto wondered at the mention of a genin team. After finding out that most genin cells had three genin and one jounin, Naruto asked why this situation was different. Yugao had responded that Naruto was in an apprenticeship which meant it would only be him and his sensei. To go on higher ranked missions that's all he would need. Unfortunately, or fortunately, the graduating class didn't have a student to replace Naruto, so Naruto was chosen to be the stand in for team 7 if they were sent on a C ranked mission. Team 7, minus the sensei Kakashi, didn't know of this and was never told.

_**Training ground 7**_

Sasuke and Sakura were sitting against a tree waiting for their sensei to arrive. True to Naruto's thoughts on the other side of the village they had been curious as to why they didn't have a third teammate, but neither made a fuss. Sasuke saw it as one less person to hold him back and Sakura saw it as more alone time with her Sasuke-kun. Sasuke was very irritated with his sensei at the moment, if he could call him that at the moment. So far they had only done these D ranked missions with no training from this man in sight. It was bad enough he had to be stuck with this annoying girl, but to not even be making progress on his goal of killing. It was crazy.

"Hello team." Kakashi greeted with an eye smile, something that both Sakura and Sasuke were getting annoyed with.

"Kakashi, when do we actually start training. I don't mind the extra money in my pocket, but these missions aren't making us any stronger." Sasuke said. He could honestly care less about Sakura, but she was his teammate and he was going to be seeing a lot of her until he made chunin at least. The least he could do was try to get their sensei to train them both, so he could get stronger for his own goals and Sakura won't slow him down. Sasuke would have preferred better missions, but better missions would come with more risk. He didn't care for Sakura in any way other than as a comrade and he knew if she was in trouble he would help her. That's what being a Konoha shinobi meant.

"You are right. It is time for you to start training. Show me what you can do on your missions for the next two weeks and then we'll talk about training." Kakashi said with an eye smile as he lead the irritated preteens to get a mission.

_**With Naruto and Yugao **_

12 hours after they got started taijutsu training, Naruto was dead tired. The best way for Naruto to get better was to wear the weights while he sparred with Yugao. She held back considerably, but Naruto couldn't keep up. The only reason he lasted for so long was because he took a two hour break after 5 hours and his inhumane stamina thanks to his heritage and his tenant.

"Alright Naruto, dispel your clones and we'll break for the day. Tomorrow we will put your clones training to the test and continue our spar on a mountain side. The spar will go on until you need a break or until you can't stay on the battlefield." Yugao said as Naruto nodded and dispelled all of his clones.

Done for the day Yugao carried the exhausted Naruto home.

"Are you ready Naruto?" Yugao asked

"Yes sensei." Naruto responded with barely contained eagerness.

They both walked over to the wall and walked on it with no effort. With a nod to each other they rushed at each other. Naruto charged a fist at Yugao's head. She ducked under the fist and kicked Naruto in the chest. He flew off the wall a little, but landed and charged at his sensei again. He aimed a kick at her midsection and she easily deflected it away. When his foot hit the ground he leaped forward with a punch, but his fist was tapped downward and sidestepped. Countering her evasion quickly Naruto used his elbow to catch his balance while he used the shadow clone jutsu to create a clone that aimed a high kick, while the original tried to sweep Yugao off her feet.

"Good, but not enough." Yugao smirked as she jumped into the air but ducked under the high kick. After landing she punched the clone and attempted to kick Naruto, but he jumped away as soon as she landed.

"I guess I'll have to try harder." Naruto said as he smirked at his sensei. He created five clones and they rushed Yugao.

"I hope your ready for this beating." Yugao smirked as they continued their spar.

_**Elsewhere**_

A bell dinged, signalling another customer/patient for one Hana Inuzuka, who was under the counter, but still in sight to the Vet's office.

"I'm sorry we're closed." Hana said without looking up and continuing what she was doing. Hana didn't see who this person was, but didn't hear the bell again signalling her being alone in the office again. "I don't mean to be rude, but..."

Hana was cut off by someone jumping over the counter and onto Hana.

"Is that how you greet your best friend?" A feminine voice said.

"Get off me Kari." Hana replied irritably. This was her best friend Hikari, but she didn't like to be pounced on like that, unless it was one of the Haimaru triplets, Akamaru (Her younger brother's puppy) or any animal she treated in the Vet's office.

"You know I don't like people calling me that." Hikari responded in an annoyed manner as she helped her best friend up.

Hikari was a teenager of average height with black hair and blue eyes. She has a contrasting appearance to her best friend Hana. Hikari was a tomboy, and has a very lean frame compared to Hana's curvier figure. Her hair was to be short and dark, kept spiked out at the sides, in tune with her less than feminine appearance. She normally and was currently wearing the standard outfit of a konoha shinobi. Her sleeves on her shirt was short-sleeved and she had on finger-less gloves with metal plates on the back. Her headband was tied around her forehead, contrary to her best friend. There were rumors going around that Hana wore her forehead protector as a bra, but what no one, but Hikari, knew was that the rumor was true. Although, every person who heard it just assumed that she didn't wear one since it wasn't visible. Hikari was a chunin level kunoichi that was more than ready for the jounin promotion, but she wanted to improve her arsenal. She was a gentaijutsu user and a great one at that. She had created her own fighting style that was based on close range combat, and genjutsu thrown in here and there to throw off her opponent. Whether it be big genjutsu used to distract her opponent long enough to end the battle, or a small one used to make her opponent slip so she could get a good hit in. She had good control on her chakra, but wasn't too much of a ninjutsu user. She knew she was a wind style user which was rare even in wind country to her knowledge. She didn't know who she could turn to for help though.

"I didn't know you were back from your mission." Hana said

"Yeah, I just got back. Lord hokage sent for you though." Hikari said

"Did he give you any details?" Hana asked

"None. He just said that when I got the chance tell Hana to come see him." Hikari said

"Alright. I guess I better get going then. If I can I'll meet you at your place when I'm finished with lord hokage." Hana said

"Alright, see you later." Hikari said as they went their separate ways after exiting and locking the vet's office.

AN: I'm running on a scale on this story where the different level of control a ninja has will determine his clone to SC ratio. chakra for 50 clones equal 1 shadow clone is academy level control. 40 clones=1 SC genin level control. 30 clones= 1 SC chunin level control. 20 clones=1 SC jounin level control. 10 clones=1 SC Naruto's control at best in this story. Sorry if that's a spoiler.


End file.
